How to Elevate Your Next Webinar

Whether it’s an online tutorial, a company-wide speech, or a presentation to investors, webinars are useful tools for sharing a great deal of information in a convenient digital format. After all, “attendees” are virtual and without travel arrangements to worry about, not nearly as much planning is needed for venues, lodging, and food & beverage. However, one of the drawbacks of webinars is that it can be difficult or even impossible to see how well the audience is receiving the content. In-person, it’s pretty obvious if the crowd is tuning out – they’ll fidget, look down at their phones, or stare blankly. On the other end of an internet connection, it’s much harder to tell. While we’ve spoken a lot about engagement tools for virtual events, there are some ways to enhance your next webinar to be more interesting and impactful for those who tune in for it.

1. Utilize Professional Design for Graphics

It’s tempting to use the pre-provided templates in Powerpoint, Keynote, Canva, and other presentation programs, but they’re always going to be the same ones anyone else can use. Over time, people start to see the same graphics they’ve seen before and it tells their brains they can tune out because it’s more of the same old information they have already heard. Hire a design team to create a few custom slide design templates that you can use instead. At minimum, you’ll want:

• a title slide for the intro to the presentation
• divider or chapter slides to use when transitioning topics
• a slide that has room for large visuals and minimal content
• a slide that is appropriate for multiple bullet points or text,
• and perhaps one for video.

If you create several versions of these key slide types, you will have more options in creating a custom-looking presentation without reinventing the design every time.

2. Move the Camera

Placing a camera on a tripod and talking to it is easy, but it’s certainly not interesting for very long. People’s eyes are trained to focus on movement. Hire a videographer or tap someone on your team to work as an involved cameraman.

Angles to Note:

1. Zoom in during important segments of a speech.
2. If giving a demonstration, shift the camera angle to look down on the tabletop and show just the hands of the person using an object or device.
3. Zoom back out so text can appear on screen next to the presenter.

There’s no need to make anything academy-award level; you just want to inject some energy into the presentation.

3. Add Music

One of the most commonly overlooked elements of a presentation is the audio. People respond emotionally to music. So, having a background track can be a very effective way to keep people interested while also placing less stress on the presenter themselves. Want to make a big announcement? Pick some background music with a little bit of pacing and drama to it. Looking to communicate simplicity in a new product design? Try a light, upbeat track during the product shot. The thing to remember with background music is you don’t want anything so loud it’s distracting or anything with words that might make other audio difficult to understand. Pre-recording your segments and mixing in audio during editing and production is a great way to test out multiple tracks without having to re-record entire segments. By making just a few adjustments to the way you approach your webinar, you’ll find you not only attract more attendees but that your message resonates better also. If you’re airing your webinar on YouTube or a digital channel you control, you can also enable comments to see how your changes are being received by guests. Used strategically, this feedback can help further fine-tune your presentation for future audiences.